August 9, 2017

Black Mambas Fighting

Two black mambas — the world's most dangerous snake — fight each other for the right to mate with a female black mamba.

They're engaging in a form of plaiting combat where they twist their bodies into a braid in hopes of making the other black mamba submit, basically a shoving match that goes on until one gives up.

National Geographic talked to Kenneth Krysko from the Florida Museum of Natural History, who said that snakes aren't actually trying to kill each other: they will occasionally bite each other in these fights but won't inject venom.